Welcome to The Machine: Growth of Prog

1969 began Prog, but why then? Why not earlier or later? Tonight I seek to answer that question by looking at the history of Rock n’ Roll as a whole, to examine why rock music logically led to prog. Later, in September (after a special Yes feature to commemorate my first prog concert and Italy month in August), I’ll tackle why prog fell.

Rock music was approximately 15 years old at the time of In the Court of the Crimson King. It evolved out of the blues music from the south, which had in itself evolved from religious chants of African American slaves on plantations. Blues, admirably, does nothing to interest me. I find every song to be the exact same, same chords, same melody, only the words change. Obviously, this was not stimulating enough for some. So in the mid 1950’s, the rock n’ roll era of rock came to be.

Stars like Elvis, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Little Richard played this music much the same as the blues. While the same noises and chords are repeated, melodies now changed from song to song. Again, this music wasn’t very challenging or interesting from a music theory perspective, but it became popular the world over out of sheer novelty. This state was not to last.

A combination of deaths, drafts, and mediocre records led to “The Wilderness Years” of rock, the early 60’s. Billboard’s chart was flooded by teen idols and pin ups. The music itself became more commercial and less sincere to its roots. This paved the way for the British Invasion. The Beatles came on the scene, and it was the first time a guitar band really became bona-fide stars. They altered all parts of their music, but in their earlier days it was within safe limits. Afterward, The Animals, The Who, and similar bands picked up on the trend.

So, as we can see, rock music evolved from less complex forms of music, and then it continued to become more sophisticated with time. This pattern makes it obvious why proto prog and later prog formed. Yet, more than just the music itself created prog. The historical setting of the era also lent a hand into making progressive rock a reality.

As everyone knows, the 60’s were a time of turmoil and stress. Society nearly buckled under pressure from Vietnam, race riots, drugs, student protests, and the largest shift towards the left since the French revolution 170 years prior. What does this mean for music? With the extra freedom in the philosophy, musical artists challenged themselves with creating more art. This allowed for the emergence of new and more innovative styles.
To be continued.